1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mineral composite, and particularly to a finely divided or powdered mineral composite, containing a wide variety of minerals in a small, relatively uniform particle size, which may be added to soil for stimulating activity of beneficial fungi and other useful microorganisms contained therein, and for thereby enhancing the growth rate and mineral content of plants and vegetables grown in the soil. The invention also pertains to methods of making the mineral composite, and of using the composite to treat soil.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
There are known mineral composites for being added to soil, compost and the like to stimulate the activity of microorganisms, to counter balance the natural acidity of the soil, etc. Some of such known mineral composites include Azomite.RTM. by Peak Minerals of Colorado Springs, CO, Mineral Rite.TM. by Vulcan Materials Company of Winston-Salem, N.C., Sacred Mountain Mineral soil additive by Sacred Mountain Minerals of Rohnert Park, Calif., and Bio 2.TM. glacial rock powder by Meridian Environmental Group, Inc. of Okemos, Mich. Each of these known products is essentially powdered rocks such as the dust or fines from a gravel pit, sea bed or the like, and contains a large variety of minerals, mostly in the form of oxides or other compounds.
Further, there are known publications which specifically address and advocate the practice of soil remineralization through addition of rock powders thereto. One such publication is Remineralize The Earth, a periodical published by Remineralize the Earth, Inc. of Northampton, Mass. This publication discusses various mineral composites which have been added to soils by persons for various reasons, and various effects achieved thereby. Several books are available which discuss adding rock powder to soil, including Bread from Stones by Dr. Julius Hensel, Secrets of the Soil by Peter Tompkins and Christopher Bird, and The Survival of Civilization by John Hamaker and Don Weaver.
Although the known mineral composites, including those discussed above and in the known publications, are somewhat useful and effective as soil additives, they still remain to be improved upon. For example, each of the Azomite.RTM., Sacred Mountain Mineral, Vulcan materials and Bio 2.TM. mineral supplements contain a large proportion of silicon in the form of silicon dioxide or sand (SiO.sub.2), i.e., between 49% and 87% by weight of the entire composition is silicon dioxide, whereas silicon dioxide has relatively little stimulative effect on microorganisms in the soil as compared with other minerals such as ferric oxide (Fe.sub.2 O.sub.3), calcium oxide (CaO), magnesium oxide (MgO), etc.
Further, the known mineral composites, although in powdered form, have relatively large or coarse, and non-uniform particle sizes. For example, a sample of the Bio2.TM. product was analyzed and found to have an average particle size of 22.28 microns, and with only 86% of the particles able to pass through a 325 mesh (44 micron) screen. Larger particle size for the mineral supplements is not desirable, because larger particles present less accessible surface area than smaller particles would. As a result, larger particles have less stimulatory effects on the microorganisms in the soil, i.e., they are not readily or easily assimilated by the microorganisms and plants, whereby a lesser overall stimulatory effect is achieved even if a larger quantity of the mineral composite is applied.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,122 to Wallace discloses a method for the biological degradation of organic containing waste matter, in which a mineral composite consisting essentially of a glacial deposit is added to the waste matter, in an amount ranging from 1 part mineral composite per 15 parts organic matter contained in the waste matter, to 1 part mineral composite per 400 parts organic matter. The particle size disclosed in this reference is below about 70% mesh size at 100 mesh, and preferably, below about 70% of mesh size at 200 mesh. The disclosure of Wallace 4,927,122 is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention has been developed to overcome the limitations and disadvantages associated with the known mineral composite additives.